Into The Fire
by KreativeKristine
Summary: What happens when Sam leaps into his brother-in-law? Can he prevent a tragedy that would change his family's lives forever?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note and disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Quantum Leap's copyrighted characters. Please enjoy this story; it's one of my very first fics. I apologize in advance for any spelling and mechanical blunders. I did run spell check, but we all know it doesn't catch everything. Anyways, despite any bloopers, I hope you enjoy this heart felt story, which is dedicated to my cat Puddin, who passed away last year.**

**INTO THE FIRE**

**APRIL 5, 1996**

The familiar neon-blue light that always surrounded him when he leaped had not yet dissipated when Dr. Sam Beckett felt a needle stab him in the crook of his left arm. When his surroundings finally came into focus, the time traveler discovered that he was sitting in a dentist-like chair, and he noticed the IV that penetrated his arm. He could see a red liquid passing through the clear tube and into a bag that sat under the chair.

"Oh, boy," he whispered to himself.

Two nurses were making their rounds, serving orange juice and Oreo cookies to all the donors, while a third sat at the front desk ready to receive new volunteers and take their vital signs.

"Would you like some orange juice and cookies?" one of the nurses inquired as she held a small paper cup of the nutritious beverage out to the still disoriented man.

"Uh . . . yeah, I'd like some," Sam answered.

With a nod and a half smile, the nurse deposited the cup into Sam's hand and stepped into the back room to get his cookies.

The first thing Sam wanted to do was figure out when, where, and who he was; but his temporary alter-ego kept his wallet in the back left pocket of his pants, and there was no way he could reach it while hooked up to that IV. Realizing there was nothing he could do at the moment, Sam sat idly and stuffed his face with four Oreo cookies and consumed the juice. He had just licked the icing from the fourth Oreo when his nurse stopped to hand him a small slip of paper

"Here you are, Jim," she said, "This has your vital signs."

The physicist's hazel eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open when he found the name printed across the top of the page: **Cmdr. James W. Bonneck. **Sam had leaped into his own brother-in-law! The date that was displayed underneath Jim's address and phone number told the scientist that it was April 5, 1996.

_Whenever I Quantum Leap through time, I always find myself playing TWENTY QUESTIONS in hopes of finding out who I had replaced and what time I was living in; but this is the first time I had the information I needed literally handed to me. _

It wasn't long before Sam's nurse came by to remove the IV and turnicut and patch up his arm. Before letting him out of the chair, she stuck a heart-shaped decal on his chest that read: **BE NICE TO ME. I'M A BLOOD DONOR.** With a smile, Sam walked out of the building and started for the green station wagon whose license tag had Jim's surname stenciled in large, black letters. Before Sam turned the key to unlock the driver's side, he heard the familiar whooshing sound of the Imaging Chamber door sliding open. Standing behind his best friend, Admiral Al Calavicci was chomping on a cigar while punching in the sequence that closed the white porthole of light behind him. His loud yet friendly "Haya, Sam!" startled ten years out of the younger man.

"Don't do that Al!" Sam snapped with an obvious tremble in his voice.

"Sorry," the shorter man snickered as his buddy crawled into the car.

"Al, you'll never guess who I leaped into this time!" Sam was practically bursting with excitement. "Jim Bonneck . . . Katey's Jim Bonneck!"

"I know, Sam, I just came from the Waiting Room---"

"This is great!" Sam babbled, interrupting his companion. "I'm gonna see Katey, Mom, Mike, and Lisa again! Do you realize how long it's been since I've seen my family . . . Five years I think . . . Last time I saw them was a month before I Quan---"

"Sam . . . Sam, hold it---" Al began as he popped in beside the enthusiastic, younger man.

"It's like a dream come . . ." Sam caught sight of his comrade and noticed the other man's features weren't colored with happiness. "Al, what is it? Does Ziggy know why I'm here?"

"Uh . . . she's not talking. She just had some new micro-chips installed and . . . uh . . . she's having a little trouble--"

"Al, ya know, I really hate it when you make up stuff like that. Can'tchoo just tell me the truth for once!" Sam criticized.

"Ziggy's really not talking, Sam," Al lied, smacking the side of his hand-link with the heal of his hand several times. "She doesn't have the faintest idea why you're here." The bad news displayed on the hand-link blackened Al's mood and drained every drop of color from his face.

Noticing the signs of bad tidings that showed in Al's face and behavior, Sam prodded, "What's going on, Al! There's something you're not telling me . . . What is it? Come on, tell me!"

"I'm tellin' ya Ziggy's got nothing---"

"You may as well tell me, Al, I'll find out eventually."

Realizing the taller man was right, Al finally sighed and answered quietly, "Uh, Sam . . . It's Jim . . . Ziggy says there's a 96.8 chance you're here to save him." Although he dreaded telling his chum what would happen to his relative, the observer swallowed hard and continued softly, "He's gonna die tonight."

"What?" Sam found himself choking on a lump of grief that had just formed in his throat.

"Tonight, your house catches on fire, and . . . you . . . I mean Jim gets Katey, your mother, and the kids out of the house; but . . . when he goes back for the cat . . . and before he has a chance to escape, . . . " Al was hesitant to tell Sam the rest.

"Al, what happened!"

"The floor gives, and Jim and the cat die instantly."

"Oh, God, no . . . "Sam fought the tears that threatened to flow from his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Kid," was all Al could say to the grieving leaper.

"Something like that . . . even with a Swiss-cheese memory, I shoulda remembered that."

"You can't remember because . . . because I never toldja---"

"You never told me! How couldja keep that from me!" Hurt tones clearly marked Sam's voice.

"By this time, you were already leaping," Al explained. "With everything else that was on your mind, I didn't think you could handle it.

"You still shoulda told me!" Sam cried.

"You're right, Sammy, I shoulda toldja," Al whispered with remorse. "But if you can keep Jim alive . . . you'll leap out, and . . . we won't have to repeat this conversation when you leap home."

"I've gotta save him, Al. I've just gotta save him." Sam's voice was hoarse from the lump that was still caught in his throat.


	2. Chapter 2

It didn't take long for Sam to reach his sister's residence and pull the car into the somewhat cluttered garage. He sedately exited the four-wheeled transport and shuffled out onto the driveway; Al followed at a discreet distance. Without a word, the semi-existent man slowly approached the younger man who was still numbed by the news of his family's tragedy. Sam stood looking at the two-story house that only he and Al knew was destined to come to an end in less than twelve hours.

Upon sliding the glass door open, Sam was greeted by loud, howling protests emulating from the kitchen. In the bright, yellow, tile-floored room, the physicist discovered that the source of the noise was the Siamese cat who stood upright in the sink. Thelma Beckett had a firm hold on the animal's front paws, and Katey was doing all she could to shampoo him without breaking the world's record for the number of cat scratches on the body.

"It's okay, Rocky," Katey tried to soothe her pet despite the exasperation the animal was causing her. "Mommy has to wash you and get rid of those old fleas."

Rocky simply ignored his master's words and continued to struggle and wail loudly.

"You'd think we were killing him," Thelma declared.

"I think I can get him to calm down long enough," Sam offered, stepping closer to the two who hadn't noticed his presence in the room. "Look at me, Rocky," Sam coaxed, picking up a slightly damaged nurf ball and tapping him on the nose with it. "ada boy," he cooed as the cat began to nuzzle his face into the soft toy.

Sam had distracted Rocky long enough for the hardly professional cat groomers to finish soaping and rinsing him. They had drained the sink and bundled the cat in a towel when Al, like a ghost, stepped through the wall and stood in the middle of the large, round table staring at the parties huddled around the stainless steel basin.

"All right, now that we're finished entertaining mouse chasers, I think we gotta talk, Sam," the hologram said solemnly before again performing Sam's favorite feat of walking through the wall that did not exist as far as he was concerned.

"I'll dry him off for you, Katey." Sam extended his arms to accept the shivering form.

"Oh, thank you, Honey," Katey's words reflected gratitude for relief of cat duty.

Perched on a lawn chair with the wet kitty in his lap Sam peered up at his friend with the widest eyes. "How did it start, Al?" he asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"A short in the wiring. According to Ziggy, the fire was reported around 10:45 p m." Al began to punch more keys on his hand-link and grimaced at the readout displayed on the gizmo's miniature screen. "It doesn't look good, Sam . . . The Fire Department has no real trouble getting it under control; but, by the time they put it out, there's nothing left to speak of. After they lose Jim and the house, your family's lives go downhill from there."

"I can't let that happen . . ." Sam muttered, rubbing the warm, wet, little creature with the towel. "My God, Mom and Katey have been through enough already . . . losing Dad, Kate's first marriage to that drunken wife beater . . . I've gotta fix this for them." He buffed some more, and Rocky began to purr loudly. "Al, what if I fixed the wiring and prevented the fire from ever happening?"

"I don't know; it's worth a shot," Al shrugged.

************

After he finished drying his little chocolate-point friend, Sam headed down into the basement to see if he could do something about the faulty wiring that promised to destroy the house later that night. Sam spent nearly an hour tinkering with any wire or circuit that looked suspicious. It seemed to him that he remedied the problem, and that he should be leaping out. He had just closed the panel on the fuse box when he heard the Imaging Chamber door whoosh open, indicating Al's arrival.

"How ya doin', Kiddo?" the observer asked in a gentle voice.

"Everything's fine here, Al. I fixed whatever was wrong with the wiring . . . so . . . I should be leaping . . . shouldn't I?"

"Uh, let's see . . ." Al muttered as he struck the tiny keys on his hand-link. "Uh-oh, the house still burns down. According to Ziggy, you've changed history, Sam. This time they don't know how the fire started . . . and you and the cat still die."

"They don't know how it started, I mean . . . there's no way I can stop it! What the hell am I supposed to do, Al! What does Ziggy say?"

"Uh, she says you get everyone out, but you die trying to rescue that little furball. Ziggy says not to go after the cat and you'll be all right."

"Whatter you saying, Al!" Sam cried out in horror, his voice reflecting the emotion. "Are you saying I should just leave Rocky in there to burn to death!"

"Sam," Al's words were kind, yet reeking of inflections of harsh reality. "They can always adopt another cat when they get back on their feet again, but this family only has one father."

Sam felt a soft surface rubbing against his legs and looked down to see a very affectionate Rocky peering up at him through loving eyes. "Al . . . I---"he began as he picked up the purring pet.

"Kid, it's either you or that little guy," Al whispered with fatherly tones, about to wrap an arm around the saddened scientist and withdrawing when he remembered Sam wouldn't feel the loving gesture. "I know you wanna save both Jim and Rocky, butchoo can't do both. You've gotta leave the kitty behind."

Sam closed his eyes tightly in hopes of holding back any tears or, better yet, leaping out of this far from happy homecoming. Upon opening his eyes, he felt a large drop of salty water fall from his eye and saw it land on the cat's nose. Rocky meowed sweetly, and Sam hugged him close and cried softly. How could he allow such an adorable bundle of love to come to such a tragic end?

Concern, sadness, and a terrible cloak of helplessness enveloped the hologram as he watched his best friend being swallowed by that dreaded monster known as grief.

Smothered with cloaks of defeat and a feeling of helplessness, Sam dragged his feet up the basement stairs still in tears. There was nothing worse than knowing a serious tragedy was on its way and there was nothing he could do to put everything right. If only he knew how the fire started in this alternate time-line.

_In all my years of leaping around in time, I have found myself stuck between a rock and a hard place . . . wrestling with the choice of carrying out my mission or helping someone I love very much. My realistic side was telling me that I leaped in here to save Jim and change my family's future; but my emotional side kept telling me that Rocky was part of the family, and I shouldn't have to sacrifice one family member over another _

The day seemed to be passing in super slow motion for Sam. Seeming to be lost in his troubles, he spent the next hour sitting in the wicker chair reading the paper and playing fetch with the animal that had captured his heart. Every time Rocky dropped that milk jug ring at his feet, the leaper became more determined to figure out a way to have his cake and eat it too. All the while, a rope of helplessness threatened to choke the life out of him.

"Jim, are you feeling all right?" Thelma asked, concern coloring her eyes and features. "You've been kinda off your feet all afternoon."

"Mom, he just gave blood," Katey explained as she and her mother perched themselves on the couch. "Maybe he's still a little weak."

"Yeah, that's it," Sam accepted the excuse, indicating the cotton ball securely taped to his arm. "I'll be fine later."

Tired of playing fetch, Rocky flopped down on top of Sam's feet and began to purr. _Poor little booger, _he thought, staring down at the resting pet.

Sam was about to speak when he heard the front door open, and two arguing voices faded in before the door slammed shut.

"Mom and Dad are gonna have a cow when you tell 'em, Mike," the female voice argued.

"So what's the big deal? It's not like I'm the only one who wants to do this, ya know," the male voice fired back.

The squabble grew louder as the two teenagers entered the room.

"Anyway, it's none of your business what I do, Lisa!" Mike Bonneck said defensively as he dropped his back pack onto the floor next to the coffee table.

"Okay, fine," Lisa Bonneck snapped, slamming her books and pom-poms into the vacant beanbag chair in the middle of the room. "Just don't expect me to stand by you and back you up. I think it's a stupid idea!" With that she stalked out of the family room, leaving her brother to confront his parents alone.

"All right, what's going on here?" Katey's question was tinged with certain parental tones. "What was that all about?"

"Aw, she's getting all bent out o' shape over nothin'."

"It didn't sound like 'nothin'' to me," Sam said, assuming his temporary role as the seventeen-year-old's father. "It sounds to me like you two were fighting over something."

"Okay," the high schooler sighed, deciding he may as well get it over with, "I'll tell ya. The guys are planning to bum around Europe for a year or so right after graduation and . . . I wanna go too."

"What about college?" Katey inquired.

"Don't need it," the teen replied nonchalantly.

"What do you mean you don't need it!" the irate mother sprang from her seat and stood with her hands firmly planted on her hips. "You can't get anywhere without a college education these days. Do you wanna come back from your trip and spend the rest of your life pumping gas or selling things over the phone . . . or do you wanna try to better yourself so you can get a job that promises you a good future?"

"Lots o' famous people made it without college . . . Anyway; I can always go back to school after I get back and get a part-time job. How often will I ever get a chance to go to Europe with my best friends again?"

Before Sam could put in his two cents, Katey continued to argue, "You have your whole life to travel, Mike, butchoo really should go to school now while you can. I always thought I could go back to school, but I never did. I got married right out of high school," she started to explain. "Needless to say, it didn't work out . . . Then I remarried . . . and I found myself becoming too busy to even think of college."

"Before you kids were born, your parents and I moved around a lot," Thelma added in. "Then after you and Lisa came along, your mom stayed home so she could take care of you kids and the house. Now she is working to help support this family."

"I don't want to see my son spend the rest of his life wondering 'What if . . . ' because he decided he didn't need college," Katey said calmly, yet firmly. "This trip will be over in a year, but a college education will last a lifetime."

Passing an 'I don't want to talk about it anymore' glance his mother and grandmother's way, Mike sighed and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Honestly, he can be so stubborn sometimes!" Katey exclaimed, slumping down on the couch.

"Ah, you know how kids are," Sam finally had a chance to speak. "They always go through a phase where they think they don't need college or they think they know more than Mom and Dad. I'm sure he'll come around." Slumbering Rocky's squeaky, little yawn reminded the time traveler that Mike and his future plans were not the reason for his being here. He looked at Thelma and Katey and asked, "Let's say we all go out for a movie and some pizza afterwards. We can leave Rocky with the neighbors and have a night out of the house."

"Aw, Jim, I really don't feel like going out tonight," Katey answered shaking her head. "All I feel like doing tonight is going to bed early. Anyway, the kids might have plans of their own."

"And I've been putting off writing to Sam and Tom. If I don't finish their letters soon, I never will," Thelma added.

"I just thought . . ." Sam began.

"Maybe some other time, okay?" Katey softly countered.

_There might not be some other time_, Sam thought as he bent down to scratch the sleeping cat's belly.


	3. Chapter 3

  

The rest of the afternoon and that evening were dragging too slowly for Sam, who felt like a condemned criminal waiting to be strapped in the electric chair. The impending tragedy weighed heavily on his mind every second. He had hoped Mike and Lisa would stay out late enough so that they wouldn't be around when the fire broke out. Such hopes were slashed when Lisa returned saying her friend had come down with the flu, and that her mother had sent Lisa home. Mike also added to Sam's stress when he came home announcing that his plans had also changed at the last minute.

Time seemed to stand still as the fire's ETA came closer.

Before Sam knew it, the entire family was spending a lazy Friday night upstairs in their rooms, clad in pajamas and night gowns. In the master bedroom, Katey was sitting up in bed reading a Steven King novel, while Sam restlessly paced the floor.

"Is there something wrong, Jim?" Katey asked, a mask of concern shaping her face. "You're as nervous as a cat tonight."

"I don't know," Sam improvised. "It's like I've got this creepy-crawly feeling that something bad is gonna happen."

"Why don'tcha just sit down and try to relax. Whatever is bothering you certainly won't go away if you keep pacing like that."

"Kate, we have to talk," Sam tried to divert his mind from the fire by bringing up a new subject. "About Mike and this college thing . . . I think we---"

The loud, piercing sound of the smoke detector's siren filled the house before Sam could continue.

"Sam!" Al's loud bellowing came as suddenly as his holographic image. "The flames are coming up through the basement door! Ziggy says the fire will spread throughout the first floor in less than fifteen minutes!"

"Oh my God!" Sam panicked as he shot down the stairway and into the kitchen to get the extinguisher. Feverishly, he sprayed the bright, yellow spears of destruction that had engulfed the wooden door and threatened to blacken the kitchen as they did the basement. Despite his efforts, Sam could not render the hot, crackling monster harmless.

"It's not doing any good, Sam!" Al screamed to be heard over the roaring and popping. "You've gotta get everyone out right now!"

"Oh, God!" Katey screamed seeing the merciless fire spread faster than Sam could fight it.

"It's too late; I can't do anything more!" Sam shouted at the top of his lungs. "We've gotta get Mom and the kids outta here now!"

Although the fire was deafening and the smoke, almost blinding, Sam could hear Katey violently coughing, and he could see that she was crying. He ordered her to go to the neighbors' house, call the Fire Department, and meet him in the yard across the street; while he alone scrambled back upstairs after Thelma, Mike, and Lisa.

"Mom!" Sam screamed, bursting into Thelma's bedroom and seizing her by the arm. "The house is on fire; we've gotta get outta here now!"

With a firm hold of Thelma's arm, Sam stormed into the teenagers' rooms and led them out, insisting they all hold hands and stay close to the walls. The four coughing, gasping parties did not know how they wound up on the across-the-street neighbors' front lawn; all they knew was that they were out of the house that had fallen prey to the ruthless, yellow destructive force.

"Oh, thank God you got everyone out!" Al cried out, popping in beside Sam, who was huddled on the ground trying to regain normal breathing. "You did it, Sam; get ready to leap!"

"Rocky!" Lisa wailed in horror. "Where is Rocky! Oh, God, did anyone get him out!"

"I don't think so," Sam's reply fit both Lisa's panic-stricken question and Al's 'get ready to leap'. With that, the heroic leaper scrambled to his feet and awkwardly staggered back to the house, despite the desperate screams of his family.

"Sam, are you crazy!" Al yelled as he chased Sam into the burning house. "Ziggy says you die trying to save that cat!"

"I've gotta find him! I can't let him die, Al"

"No, Sam, forget it! The cat's a goner no matter what! Just get outta here and save yourself!"

"Rocky!" Sam called over the violent, roaring flames that turned the home into a seething inferno of danger and possible death. "Rocky, where are you!" Hearing cat screams overhead, Sam raced upstairs, coughing and gasping as he continued to call out to the pet. "Rocky!" Sitting in the bathroom doorway was the frightened feline, his slanted, blue eyes teary and his screams loud and piercing. "Come on, Kitty, we've gotta get outta here," Sam tried to say between choking coughs. He then grabbed the cat and wrapped the animal around his neck, leaving his hands free.

Since the fire had now blocked the stairway, Sam had to escape through an upstairs window. Remembering that there was a trellis just outside Thelma's window, Sam decided that would be his best means of escape. With Rocky's claws digging into his bare shoulders and loud meows sounding in his ear, the physicist made it to the bedroom and threw the window open.

"Sam, it's not gonna work!" Al called. "Ziggy says that floor could cave in at any second!" Almost at that instant, a creaking was heard, and Sam could feel the floor give way. "Saaaaaaam!" Al cried out, burying his eyes in his sleeve, so he wouldn't see his best friend falling to his death. To his sudden relief, the hologram uncovered his eyes to see that his buddy had grabbed onto the window sill and was crawling out to grab onto the trellis.

Sam's Siamese stole scratched and scrambled and jumped into a nearby tree, but the leaper wasn't so lucky. Before he could climb safely to the ground, the trellis began to wobble, and it tipped over allowing Sam and the front yard to become very close friends. Across the street, Katey and the rest of the clan sat huddled together, watching 'Jim' fall to the ground. Their cries and screams were unheard by the scientist who immediately entered a sharp void of darkness and silence.

  

Sam regained consciousness while in the ambulance, insisting there was no need for him to be hospitalized; however the paramedics held a different view. Every test imaginable was run on the time traveler: EEG'S, EKG'S, CAT scans, and a complete physical examination. Although he suffered no major internal damage and had no broken bones, Sam did take a nasty blow to the head, suffered minor smoke inhalation, and was to be admitted for observation.

Each family member took turns sitting up with Sam and cat-napping in the visitor's lounge. Sam lay restless in the narrow, railed bed. Boredom plagued him, and his hospital gown stuck to his perspiration-drenched body. The uncomfortable garment's ties rubbed harshly against the skin Rocky had tenderized during the escape.

"Geeze," Lisa, the current visitor, had trouble meeting Sam's eyes. "I'm real sorry, Daddy."

"What do you have to be sorry for, Honey?" Sam countered softly.

"It's my fault you're in here . . . If I hadn't started crying for that stupid cat---"

"Then Rocky would be dead right now," Sam interrupted.

"But you wouldn't have gone back into the house and gotten hurt from falling off the trellis. You coulda broken your neck---"

"But I didn't. Lisa I'm gonna be fine. I woulda gone in after Rocky even if you hadn't started screaming, so I want you to stop blaming yourself for something I was gonna do anyway. All you're doing is making yourself even more upset . . . For God's sake, Lisa, don't torture yourself like this! We're gonna have to start over, and it won't be easy . . . and we're all gonna have to be strong and supportive of each other . . . and we can't do that if we keep thinking about the bad things that could have happened."

Before Lisa could say a word, the Imaging Chamber door swished open and Al stepped in front of Sam's bed. "Hey, Sam, how ya doin', Buddy?" The observer's tones were quiet with hints of concern.

Seeing the tears in Lisa's bloodshot eyes, Sam said gently, "Look . . . Lisa, why don'tcha go splash some cold water on your face, getcherself a candy bar and try to pull yourself together. Go ahead; I'll be okay," he tenderly dismissed the fifteen-year-old.

The still troubled teen rose and slowly slithered through the doorway, allowing Sam to talk to his companion without appearing to suffer from delirium.

"Why haven't I leaped?" Sam questioned, pulling on the plastic hospital ID bracelet that plastered itself to his hot, sweaty wrist. "I saved Jim and Rocky, so how come I'm still here?"

"I don't know, Sam," Al answered as he punched several keys on his hand-link and took a long drag on his cigar. "The family finds temporary housing; and in another six months, they start to get back on their feet again. You did whatcher supposed to do, so you should be leaping."

"I shoulda prevented the fire, Al. Nobody should have to go through what Katey and her family just went through. They should be sleeping in their own beds, not sitting in a hospital lounge worrying about me or their future."

"Sam, you did whatcha could. You prevented the short circuit; you saved yourself and the cat. When the fire broke out, you tried to put it out. It's not your fault, Buddy; sometimes these things just happen."

All Sam could do was shake his head slowly and sigh.

"Dad?" Mike said timidly as he stepped into Sam's room. "Could I sit in here for a while?"

"Sure, Son," Sam gulped down the massive lump in his throat and nodded, patting the chair next to his bed. "Have a seat." The strange, far-away expression that ran across the young man's face prompted the leaper to ask, "Something on your mind, Mike?"

"Lots o' things," Mike sighed. "Losing the house really made me start thinking . . . I keep thinking how close we came to being homeless . . . If the fire insurance didn't cover the cost of the hotel and rebuilding the house, we . . . we wouldn't have any place to live."

"I'm sure we would find somewhere to stay . . . friends' houses, quarters on the Naval base . . . We'd make it," Sam assured comfortingly.

"But, still . . . It really makes ya think about things. Some homeless people like it on the streets, but most of 'em are people like us who lose their homes and end up a lot worse off than us. It's not fair. I kinda wish I could do something to help people like that . . . My God . . . it coulda happened to us . . . and I know I'd hate to have someone just blow us off and not help us."

"Ya know, Mike, you can help people like that. You could volunteer at a shelter, make donations, or go to college and get a degree in social work. If you do that, you can offer these people a lot more than a hand-out . . . You can try to help them get back on their feet again."

"Like I toldja this afternoon, I wanna go traveling with the guys---"

"How about a compromise? You can go for the summer and come back in August and start classes," Sam suggested.

"Aw, c'mon, Dad," Mike sighed with a 'gimme a break' inflection. "Even if I wanted to go, there's no way I can go to Ohio U. Out-of-state tuition and room and board'll cost a fortune, and we need the money so we can start over again."

"Forget Ohio U," Sam countered, bursting with a good idea. "You can go to a junior college right here. It wouldn't cost too much, and you can get a good education. Once you graduate, you can go out there and try to help the homeless."

"Junior college," Mike mumbled to himself, mulling over the idea.

"Uh, Sam, Ziggy says Mike goes to college, graduates with an AA in Sociology, and becomes very active in increasing public awareness concerning the homeless," Al said with a smile as he consulted his link.

Sam only had time to smile at Al and Mike before the neon-blue light flashed, fading out the hospital room and sending him to only God or Time or Fate knows where.


End file.
